The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (50 page)

“Ellinwyrd must have been meaning the
mountain, not Ironhold,” Jiron says.

Nodding, James says, “Yes! That’s got to be
it.” To the miner he asks, “How long until we get there?”

The miner glances from James, to the others
and then back again, he can see something is going on. “We’ll be
there tomorrow,” he answers.

“Good,” says James, his spirits again high.
Not even the tension between Dave and Jiron is able to dampen his
mood now. His goal is about to be reached.

Evening finds them winding their way down to
the bottom of a deep valley with a river cutting its way through.
“That’s the river we’ll follow to those ruins,” the miner
announces. “If we leave first thing in the morning, we should be
able to get there by late afternoon.”

“It doesn’t look all that far,” Uther says
as he gazes to Kiliticus in the distance.

“Don’t let its size fool you,” he says.
“It’s further than it looks.”

“Damn,” mutters Jorry in awe.

Another hour finds them nearing the base of
the valley and they hunt for a good place in which to make camp.
Once found, they set up camp.

The valley acts like a funnel for the wind
coming off the mountain. They build a large roaring fire to ward
off the chill and spend a very cold and uncomfortable night. The
person on watch never wanders far from the fire and makes sure to
keep the blaze going well throughout the night.

As the morning brightens with dawn’s
approach, they quickly get underway. Everyone is anxious to get
there, find what they came here for and then get out. They
definitely don’t want to be here should snow begin falling. The
trip back, over the terrain they just navigated would be most
treacherous indeed if covered in snow.

Two hours after dawn, the sun finally rises
over the peaks to the east. The sun does little to warm the riders
as they make their way along the river. Throughout the day,
Kiliticus continues to rise ever higher as they draw nearer.

The river, beside which they’re riding, is
little more than a glorified stream. There are two places where
they have to leave its banks in order to make it around boulders
jutting out of the ground. The whole valley is a rugged wilderness,
a place James feels sure few people have ever been.

After a brief stop for a bite to eat around
noon, they head out again and ride another hour before the lake at
the base of Kiliticus comes into view. Sitting as it does at the
base of the mammoth mountain, it appears small by comparison. But
as they approach, it’s revealed as being fairly large.

The miner brings them to a stop and when
they’ve all gathered near says, “If you look on the far shore of
the lake, you will see the ruins.”

Sure enough, when James looks he can make
out several structures. Excited, he urges them onward and they move
as quickly as they can. It takes a little over an hour before they
reach the southern side of the lake, the area from which the river
they’ve been following issues forth.

James takes the lead in his impatience and
hurries around the lake. The ruins grow ever closer and his
excitement and anticipation mounts. He glances back to the miner
and asks, “Where exactly did you see the symbol?”

He points to the largest structure situated
in the middle of the ruins. “It lies within that building.”

Kicking the sides of his horse, James bolts
forward.

“James, wait!” Jiron hollers but he doesn’t
pay attention in his excitement. Kicking his horse into a gallop,
he and the others race after him.

The ruins are the size of a small village.
There’s even evidence of a dock which had once extended out upon
the water, small pilings protrude from the water. All the buildings
are moss covered and overgrown with vegetation. Many of the
buildings have plants growing within their interiors, as well as a
few trees growing right through what used to be the roofs of two of
them.

Jiron scans the area for any dangers, but
doesn’t find any. The only danger he feels they’re likely to find
would be some large predator that may have made one of these
buildings its own.

James flies around the dilapidated buildings
until finally arriving at the large structure in the middle. He
brings his horse to a stop near the front entrance and dismounts
just as Jiron arrives next to him.

“You shouldn’t run headlong into unknown
territory like that,” chides Jiron as he gets down from his horse.
The others arrive and begin dismounting shortly after.

“Sorry,” apologizes James. “I just got
caught up in the moment.”

The building before them has to have been a
temple at one time. No statues or other adornment are visible but
the feel of the place brings them to that conclusion. The front
doors are closed tight and blazoned upon each is the Star of
Morcyth.

“This is it,” breathes James. Excitement
rising like an irresistible tide, he steps forward toward the three
steps leading up to the doors. Jiron moves to go around him but he
lays a hand on his arm and says, “Not this time.”

Jiron nods and allows James to be the first
to enter.

James takes the steps to the door with the
others following close behind. Hand trembling in anticipation, he
reaches out and takes hold of the door handle. Taking a deep breath
to calm himself, he turns the handle and opens the door.

The ravages of time have not spared this
building either. The door opens several inches before stopping.
Turning back to the others, he says, “Feels like there’s something
blocking it.”

“Push harder,” Uther suggests just as Jorry
asks, “Need any help?”

Turning back to the door, he shoves hard
with his shoulder and the door suddenly bursts into the room.
Something hits him in the leg, a little sapling is growing before
the door and had snapped back after the door was pushed over it.
“Just a tree,” he says to the others.

Inside the building, one of the large
windows has been broken out and a pile of leaves as well as other
dead vegetation lie beneath it from where the wind deposited them
over the years. The room he walks into is a large central meeting
area. It looks nothing like any church or temple he’s been in
before. This may have served as more than just a meeting place to
worship Morcyth.

Tables and chairs are situated about the
room, many having fallen prey to insects and lie rotted upon the
floor. Off to one side is what has to be the altar. It’s made of
wood and shows the wear of time as everything else does.

Jiron makes his way toward it and asks,
“Doesn’t this look familiar?”

James comes over and takes a closer look.
It’s a roughly four foot high pedestal with a small platform atop
it. Upon closer examination, the platform has the Star of Morcyth
engraved within it. Glancing back to Jiron he shakes his head, “No,
I can’t place it.”

“It’s the same as the one we found back in
the City of Light when we first met,” he explains.

“Right, under your hideout,” he says. Now it
comes to him. When he and Jiron first met, they ended up having to
flee through an underground secret passage which the medallion had
opened. There they found a room with a marble pedestal with a
crystal platform on top similar to this one. Only that one, instead
of having the Star of Morcyth engraved within it, had an open space
within it in the shape of an inverted pyramid.

He reaches up and tries to remove the
platform but it is an integral part of the altar and doesn’t budge.
The one in the City of Light had revealed a secret door when
removed. He tries putting the Star diagram of his medallion on the
Star of the platform but that fails to yield any results.

The others have spread out to search the
building, Fifer and Qyrll take the stairs to the upper level and
return shortly. “Nothing up there but a couple rooms filled with
moss covered furniture.”

“Let me see,” says James and he takes the
stairs up. Two rooms sit across from each other at the top of the
stairs and after a brief examination, turns up nothing.

As he comes back down, Jiron says, “I don’t
think you’ll find anything in here.”

“Why not?” James asks.

“Remember the riddle from Saragon?” he
replies. “It said ‘At the foot of the king, bathe in his cup.’
Seems to me the ‘cup’ would be the lake out there.” He then points
out the open window to where they can see the lake a short ways
away.

He contemplates that for a minute, and after
another quick glance around the temple says, “You may be right.” He
then turns to Fifer and says, “Take the others and see if you can
find a building we can use as a headquarters while we search the
area. Get the horses settled in and gather wood, we may be here a
while.”

“You got it,” he says. Taking Qyrll, Jorry
and Uther with him, he takes care of it.

Leaving the temple, James and the rest move
toward the lake. Jiron turns to the miner and asks, “Is there
another way out of here?”

“Why?” he asks.

“In the event the Empire’s forces show up,
we may not have the option of returning the way we came,” he
explains.

“I’m not sure,” he admits. “I only came here
once and that was years ago.”

Glancing around at the area surrounding
them, he hopes there may be another way out. The fact that the
Empire’s soldiers had been camped around Ironhold makes him
nervous. Despite not having seen any evidence of them being
followed, he knows they’re out there somewhere.

At the water’s edge, James comes to a stop
and looks around. He mumbles to himself, ‘At the foot of the king,
bathe in his cup. Pull his beard to make him sit up.’ Gazing first
one way and then the other, he doesn’t see anything which could
remotely be considered a beard.

The water doesn’t even come to the edge of
the mountain. Rather it ends several hundred feet before, most of
the buildings sit between the water and where the mountain begins
its rise.

“Maybe you have to get into the water,”
suggests Jiron.

Turning to glance at him he exclaims, “Are
you crazy? That water must be at or near freezing. I wouldn’t last
more than a minute.”

“Yeah,” adds Dave. “Think next time.”

Jiron turns a cold stare toward him which is
returned with equal intensity. His hand is flexing upon a hilt of
one of his knifes and only the presence of James prevents him from
killing Dave on the spot. Getting his anger under control, he
returns his attention to James and says, “It did say ‘Bathe in his
cup’.” Gesturing to the water he adds, “That seems to be the only
thing around here which could be considered a cup.”

James brings his gaze to the water and a
shiver runs through him as he contemplates the idea of entering its
frigid depths. “Man I don’t want to do that,” he says. “If we can’t
come up with another theory, I’ll do it tomorrow. Until then, let’s
try to figure another way.”

“As you will,” he says.

The sound of someone approaching from the
town causes him to turn and see Fifer walking toward them. “We
found a building which will suffice,” he says. “It has all four
walls still intact and most of the ceiling. It’s large enough for
us as well as the horses, might’ve been an inn.”

“Good,” says James. Glancing to where the
sun is reaching toward the peaks to the west, he turns to Jiron and
says, “We better make sure to post a watch tonight. Don’t want the
Empire getting the drop on us now, not with us being so close and
all.”

“I figured as much already,” he says. “Two
to a watch.”

They follow Fifer back to the building he’s
staked out for their headquarters. It does look like an inn, there
are several rooms off the ground floor but they’re all planning on
staying together in the common room. Better to keep warm that
way.

Once there, James tells the miner that he’ll
no longer hold him should he wish to depart.

“If it’s all the same with you guys, I’d
just as soon stay,” he says. “With all the talk of the Empire being
out there, I wouldn’t want to head back alone.”

“You’re more than welcomed to stay,” James
assures him.

James and Dave have the first watch. They
figure Dave will be okay on watch as long as he’s with his friend.
No one else would have him any way.

Bundling up tight, he and Dave leave the inn
after having a quick meal and set about finding a spot from which
they can keep an eye on what’s going on. A nearby building with an
upper story will work out perfectly. One wall has caved in and most
of the upper area has as well. From up there they have an
unrestricted view of almost the entire settlement.

“Can’t we have a fire?” asks Dave after ten
minutes of freezing in the cold breeze.

“We dare not risk it,” replies James.
“Besides ruining our night vision, anyone in the area will know
we’re up here.”

Teeth chattering, Dave says, “I don’t care,
I’m freezing!”

“Relax, it’s only another hour before we go
get Jorry and Uther for their watch.” The darkness is beginning to
settle in and it isn’t long before they can’t see much more than
shadows.

Their watch passes uneventfully and Dave is
quite happy when they return to the warmth of the inn and wake
Jorry and Uther for their turn at watch. James explains to them
where the lookout they found is and they’re soon out the door.

Dave settles in by the fire, dropping off to
sleep quickly. James on the other hand sits up for awhile as he
tries to figure out another way other than getting into the
water.

The following morning, the only alternative
James could come up with is constructing a raft and floating out
upon the surface. If that fails to produce any results then he’ll
brave the icy water.

It takes them some time to construct a raft
large enough to support him safely. Miko suggested for him to use
his magic in the effort but he was simply too concerned with there
being another mage in the area who might pick up on it. If a mage
was with the Empire’s force, who knows what he would do should he
detect magic being used.